Monday, June 14, 2010

Around 2 a.m. Sunday 18-year-old Jake West allegedly pulled out a 12-gauge shotgun, pointed it at the leg of a girl inside a home in the 100 block of Fiedler Lane in Fenton and asked: "Do you want to keep that knee?"

Then West allegedly pulled the trigger.

Jefferson County sheriff deputies arrived moments later to find the 17-year-old girl clinging to life, the shotgun spray having made hamburger of her leg and lower torso.

According to the sheriff's department, several teenagers were drinking at the home when an argument erupted and West emerged with the shotgun.

Brandishing the weapon at guests, West first told everyone to leave. Then he allegedly aimed the gun at the victim and asked the rhetorical question: Knee or no knee?

The teen was rushed to a local hospital where she is listed in serious but stable condition.

West, meanwhile, is in police custody charged with armed criminal action and first-degree assault with serious physical injury. He remains in jail with bond set at $50,000 cash.